Former Velvet Underground Drummer Moe Tucker Pays Tribute to Lou Reed

When a famous person dies, too often the tributes from colleagues past and present read like canned statements, with little insight into the deceased’s life or character. However, Moe Tucker, former drummer for the Velvet Underground, went into considerable detail about Lou Reed, who passed away on Oct. 27.

Speaking with the Daily Beast, she said, “Lou and I had a special friendship. I loved him very much. He was always encouraging and helpful to me and a good friend … I’m super glad Lou and I remained friends all this time. Not close like we’d tell each other secrets like girlfriends or guy friends might, but a respect, I guess. The Velvet guys, they were like brothers. I felt more from them than just ‘we were in a band together … ’ I had a great time and loved them all very much, and I’m really kind of off-kilter over this.”

Tucker also sought to set the record straight on Reed’s notoriously difficult personality. “Many people, I think, have the impression that Lou was kind of a grouchy son of a bitch,” she continued. “But that’s not true. He’d be grouchy. He didn’t tolerate someone who has a job and does it badly. That just drove him nuts, and those were the kind of instances where he could be what some people would consider ‘holy s—.’ But you can’t blame him? Because how many years did he put up with people who didn’t know what the hell they were talking about when they came to interview him and stuff like that?”

Tucker concluded by saying that she was “so pissed off. Damn, why did that happen? I’ll miss him being out there, doing his thing. My deep condolences to [wife] Laurie [Anderson], who I’m very happy he found.”